My barber, Steve

I’m supposed to walk one-quarter mile two times a day. (I actually do, once and a while)

Last week I walked down to the center of town to get my stroll in and thought I would stop to see Steve the Barber and get a hair cut. (Actually, to get them all cut, while I was there)

I hadn’t been there for a while, as I have been involved with this heart thing.

It was slippery, so I brought my cane and Steve was surprised to see me using it.

"What happened to your leg?"

"Oh, it’s a long story," I said.

"Shoot, we’re all alone here."

"Well, in Dec. of 1999, I had a stroke and it left my left side weakened. And since my last haircut, I had a quadruple heart by-pass and that affected the fine motor dexterity in my left leg so I decided to use the cane for stability. It is only temporary."

"WOW, quadruple by-pass! Jezee, you look great! How many valves?"

"No valves, fortunately, just arteries."

"Wow! Quadruple? How many arteries?"

"They did 4."

"Wow! And how many valves is that?"

"Just plumbing to by-pass 5 clogged arteries and to make sure there is adequate oxygen to the heart muscle."

"Wow! Five clogs. And how many valves did you say?"

"Just five clogs and 4 by-passes." (Steve’s knowledge of the heart seems to be limited.)

"That’s how many valves?" Steve repeated over the drone of the electric clippers.

"At least seven," I finally acquiesced.